Unit Aim or Outcome:The unit 'British Colinisation of Australia' aims to enable students to use a variety of media to investigate about the given topic and construct a multimodal text that presents their findings in a structured and coherent manner. Focus Outcome:Change and Continuity CCS2.1 Significant Events and PeopleDescribes events and actions related to the British colonisation of Australia and assesses changes and consequences.- sequences significant events related to human occupation in Australia
- describes some of the consequences of the British invasion for Aboriginal people
- explains the roles played by some significant people during the occupation of Australia as a penal colony by the British, eg Arthur Phillip
- explains the importance of some significant places associated with British colonisation, eg Sydney Cove
- selects an uses various sources for reconstructing the past
Lesson Outcomes: Learning to Talk and ListenTS2.2 Skills and StrategiesInteracts effectively in groups and pairs, adopting a range of roles, uses a variety of media and uses various listening strategies for different situations.- acts as a reported for group, summarising the main points of the visual literacy poster created
- engages with the class and uses appropriate body language when presenting
Learning about ReadingRS2.7 Context and Text Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes.- talks about different interpretations of visual texts
- makes general statements about how visual texts enhance or detract from meaning
RS2.8 Language Structures and FeaturesDiscusses the text structure of a range of text types and the grammatical features that are characteristic of those text types.- identifies types of visual information
Lesson Outline:Students will learn about various elements of visual grammar that are required to produce a multimodal text on colonisation. Students will partake in individual, pair and group work in this lesson as they develop and clarify their visual literacy skills and knowledge.
Introduction (10 mins):A class discussion occurs about the previous lessons in this UOW. This will prompt prior knowledge and motivate students for the upcoming tasks. Living ClayThe teacher displays the three images (resource 3) on the Interactive Whiteboard. Six students from the class form pairs (3 groups of 2) and go outside. Once outside the teacher allocates an image to each pair of students. One person in the pair is the 'sculptor' and the other person is the 'clay.' Each pair picks a small detail in their image (eg, flag pole in image 3 or rock mounds in image 2) which they are going to 'sculpt.' The pairs return to the classroom and all sculptors begin to move and mould their partner into the object they picked from their photograph. Once the sculpting is completed, the 'clay' freezes and the remaining students have to guess the photograph assigned to each pair and the object sculpted. A short discussion follows this activity regarding shot distance. Significant questions are asked by the teacher such as:was it difficult to understand the meaning of the image when only such a small detail was being shown?what does this tell us about the importance of shot distance?what shot distance is employed by the images on the interactive whiteboard, how do you know?would different shot distances need to be employed for different images? examples?
Teaching / Learning Activities (30 mins):
Students will:Students sit at the front of the room and look at the three colonisation pictures on the Interactive Whiteboard. The class has a discussion about each image and identifies the common visual elements employed. Various students approach the IWB and circle the commonalities.
Teacher will:Upload the three images (resource 3) onto an IWB screen. Engage the class in a discussion about the visual elements of the images, stimulating higher-order thinking and promoting deep understanding and knowledge of shot distance, narrative action images and salience. When discussing shot distance, the teacher includes the terminology of 'foreground, middle ground and background.' If all three are present, the social distance can be classified as a long shot. The teacher will asks prompting questions that will guide the discussion such as:- what is the first thing that catches your eye in each image? why?- what is the story behind each image?- what are the common features in all three pictures?
Students come to the conclusion that images which depict historical events should employ a long shot, narrative action shots and the point of salience should directly relate to colonisation.
The teacher confirms student answers and then summarises the findings which have been made through analysis of the three images - long shot, narrative action shots, point of salience that obviously relates to colonisation.
Students split into pairs and find a computer. Students find four images - two which can be related to colonisation and that display the visual features highlighted in the discussion and two that display the complete opposite of what was discussed and would be completely wrong to include in a unit of work on colonisation.
After students have found four pictures from the internet, they print them out and design a poster. One side of the poster is dedicated to the 'wrong' images and one side is dedicated to the 'right' images. Students write dot points on each side justifying why the images were 'wrong' and 'right'.
The teacher splits the class into pairs and assigns each pair a computer. The teacher walks around the room, observing students work. If students struggle to find images or become off task, the teacher steps in to help.
Concluding Strategy (10 minutes):One at a time, each pair projects their two word documents onto the Interactive Whiteboard. The pair of students discuss why their 'wrong' picture would not be appropriate to be used in a topic of work on colonisation. Students then show their 'right' image and justify the visual features which make this image perfect for use in a unit of work on colonisation. After each group presentation, question time is provided. Students may want to ask the presenters where they found various pictures on the internet.
Assessment: Each student will be assessed on their knowledge of visual literacy, specifically in relation to shot distance, narrative action images and salience. This will be predominantly assessed through observation. As students engage in the main tasks of the lesson the teacher will walk around the room listening to discussions and observing students' actions. The teacher will then mark student's knowledge of visual literacy via their presentations and posters. These work samples will highlight the students' level of understanding of visual grammar.
Any special considerations or contingency plans: Modified activityIf students are struggling with the poster task in the body of the lesson, they will be instructed to only find a 'right' image. If they are still having difficulty, the teacher will provide them with one of the images discussed earlier in the lesson (resource 3). Students will print out this image and proceed to write about the visual features that were discussed at the beginning of the lesson. Extension activityAn extension activity will be provided for students who have completed the poster task before the rest of the class and to a high degree of quality. Students will be given a digital camera and instructed to take pictures in and around the classroom. The pictures must be long shots and should portray an action image (birds flying in the playground, children walking in the hallway, a peer eating his lunch). Students will then return to the classroom and display their photos on the IWB explaining each shot and pointing out the foreground, middle ground and back ground of the photo.
Self-reflection:Was the lesson successful in meeting the established outcomes?Were the instructions clear and correctly followed?Was the lesson engaging for the student?Were the time limits realistic?Was the content of the lesson appropriate for stage 2 (year 4) students?Did the students understand the relevance of the lesson?What aspects of the lesson (if any) would you change in the future?
Focus Outcome:Change and Continuity
CCS2.1 Significant Events and PeopleDescribes events and actions related to the British colonisation of Australia and assesses changes and consequences.- sequences significant events related to human occupation in Australia
- describes some of the consequences of the British invasion for Aboriginal people
- explains the roles played by some significant people during the occupation of Australia as a penal colony by the British, eg Arthur Phillip
- explains the importance of some significant places associated with British colonisation, eg Sydney Cove
- selects an uses various sources for reconstructing the past
Learning to Talk and ListenTS2.2 Skills and StrategiesInteracts effectively in groups and pairs, adopting a range of roles, uses a variety of media and uses various listening strategies for different situations.- acts as a reported for group, summarising the main points of the visual literacy poster created
- engages with the class and uses appropriate body language when presenting
Learning about ReadingRS2.7 Context and Text
Discusses how writers relate to their readers in different ways, how they create a variety of worlds through language and how they use language to achieve a wide range of purposes.- talks about different interpretations of visual texts
- makes general statements about how visual texts enhance or detract from meaning
RS2.8 Language Structures and FeaturesDiscusses the text structure of a range of text types and the grammatical features that are characteristic of those text types.- identifies types of visual information
Interactive Whiteboard
Computer lab
Printer
15 glue sticks
15 pairs of scissors
15 blank pieces of cardboard
A short discussion follows this activity regarding shot distance. Significant questions are asked by the teacher such as:was it difficult to understand the meaning of the image when only such a small detail was being shown?what does this tell us about the importance of shot distance?what shot distance is employed by the images on the interactive whiteboard, how do you know?would different shot distances need to be employed for different images? examples?
After students have found four pictures from the internet, they print them out and design a poster. One side of the poster is dedicated to the 'wrong' images and one side is dedicated to the 'right' images. Students write dot points on each side justifying why the images were 'wrong' and 'right'.
Each student will be assessed on their knowledge of visual literacy, specifically in relation to shot distance, narrative action images and salience. This will be predominantly assessed through observation. As students engage in the main tasks of the lesson the teacher will walk around the room listening to discussions and observing students' actions. The teacher will then mark student's knowledge of visual literacy via their presentations and posters. These work samples will highlight the students' level of understanding of visual grammar.
Modified activityIf students are struggling with the poster task in the body of the lesson, they will be instructed to only find a 'right' image. If they are still having difficulty, the teacher will provide them with one of the images discussed earlier in the lesson (resource 3). Students will print out this image and proceed to write about the visual features that were discussed at the beginning of the lesson.
Extension activityAn extension activity will be provided for students who have completed the poster task before the rest of the class and to a high degree of quality. Students will be given a digital camera and instructed to take pictures in and around the classroom. The pictures must be long shots and should portray an action image (birds flying in the playground, children walking in the hallway, a peer eating his lunch). Students will then return to the classroom and display their photos on the IWB explaining each shot and pointing out the foreground, middle ground and back ground of the photo.